2022 was our settling year.
We have continued to learn Virginia and settle in to life here. I feel like we have found a good rhythm on day-to-day life, but it was still a year of change and transition, as we have been able to dive more into ministry and church life {with Covid somewhat calming and my health improving}. 2022 brought the transition to Kindergarten and homeschooling, changes in my job responsibilities, as well as our new home. While I am feeling SO much better than I was this time last year, it has still been a hard year battling varying health issues.
Since we JUST moved in, we still have to unpack and get settled here, but we will be starting 2023 fresh, ready to finally be settled in one place long{er?} term :)
January started off with a bang with our first snow of the year! My kids are officially snow-lovers and have asked ALL. YEAR. LONG. when we will get more snow haha. I was starting to see slow improvement in my Crohn's symptoms, but was still dealing with a lot of fatigue and headaches. We celebrated National Winnie the Pooh day, special for our Pooh-loving boy, and the rest of the cold days were filled with dress up, science projects, reading books, and building forts.
We tried to make the cold and dreary days in February a little more exciting by counting down to Valentine's Day and doing tons of love day activities. We were full steam ahead into potty training Aiden, so that meant he got to transition from his crib into his big boy bed! We still got to enjoy some remnants of snow, but we did get to enjoy some warmer days outside. We also started going back to church in person on a more regular basis, and we were SO thankful for that.
Grandma came to visit in March! We got to go to the National Zoo and Udvar-Hazy, and we even got to share some snow with Grandma while she was here :) I celebrated 10 years at the bank, and Eli and Maddie had their first visit to the dentist. We also made the trip into D.C. to see the cherry blossoms in bloom, which was so fun! With the weather staring to warm up {a little}, we were able to ride bikes and go on walks. We were starting to see the first signs of spring {though winter wasn't quite done yet}, and we were definitely ready!
In April, we celebrated Easter with an ABC countdown, resurrection rolls, and easter baskets. I had another colonoscopy, which showed improvement from my last one! I wasn't in remission yet, and was starting to really struggle with headaches, but we finally figured out that I was iron deficient, so I started supplements to help with that. We got to have dinner with sweet friends, enjoy our church's spring festival, take Flat Stanley on a D.C. tour for our niece, and I was in full planning mode for homeschooling! But after 2 years, Covid finally hit our house. Mike got Covid and we quarantined him in one room, so I was running solo with the kiddos, taking care of him for 2 full weeks. It was crazy and hard, but I am thankful that the rest of us never got it!
Granny and Grumpz came to visit in May! We loved having them here, and showing them our life in Virginia. We visited Manassas National Battlefield, Cox Farms, and of course, read all the books and played all the games. Maddie was finally able to graduate from eye patching {yay!}, and Eli continued making good progress in strengthening his eye. We were loving all the new, warm weather, so we spent a lot of time playing outside.
In May/June, we headed to Tennessee for a fun family vacation in the Smoky Mountains. It was a week filled with all kinds of fun and adventure, and we loved spending time with family. I was finally starting to see improvement in my energy levels, since starting iron supplements. My GI had wanted me to increase my Stelara dosing to every 4 weeks, and he had been battling with insurance to approve it for almost 2 months. I was finally able to start that new dosing in June. We were soaking up as much summer time fun as we could, to fully enjoy our summer before Kindergarten! We went strawberry picking, celebrated Father's Day, went on hikes with friends, and June is also when we started praying {specifically} about our new house.
We celebrated the 4th of July with some friends from church and our neighbors. We also soaked up some fun pool time and danced with Mickey Mouse at a friend's birthday party. Maddie lost her first tooth, which was a day filled with excitement! Mike and I were able to enjoy a fun anniversary date to get sushi and ice cream, and we were able to reflect on 11 years of marriage. I officially submitted our Notice of Intent to homeschool {so we were committing! haha}; while I was busy prepping curriculum, the kids were busy doing all the summer things before school started :)
We wrapped up the summer with another visit with Grandma and Papa in August. We enjoyed several parks, celebrated Papa's birthday, and played mini golf. We also did 2 weeks of swim lessons! It was definitely late in the season, and we are still not swimming {sigh}, but I'm glad we were able to get some practice in anyway. We celebrated Aiden's 4th birthday with a fun Blippi-themed day. And then we started our homeschooling journey with Eli and Maddie starting Kindergarten and Aiden starting Pre-K. Mike got to spend a week in the mountains with pastor friends, and we tried to soak up the warm weather as we settled in to a good school routine.
In September, we were finding our groove with school, but still trying to spend as much time playing outside. We visited the Maryland Renaissance Festival with neighbors, which was a unique experience. I got to start the women's Bible study at church, Maddie transitioned into a booster seat, and we got to spend some time with Pastor Milt and Mrs. Val. Behind the scenes, we were finalizing details for buying our Virginia house!
October was really busy! We were able to go to an apple orchard with friends, which made for a sweet memory! I was deep in the battle with my headaches/migraines. They were becoming more intense and more frequent, and I was really struggling. But the Lord was still gracious to sustain me. I was able to slip away to West Virginia for a weekend getaway, which was so refreshing and needed. I got to attend our church's annual women's retreat, helping with the hospitality team. Granny came for a visit; unfortunately, she got a really bad case of vertigo, but we were still thankful for the time we had with her. We had our annual fall festival, Aiden became our 3rd kid to get glasses, and we got to start visiting our new house! Fall was in full swing and the kids got their first taste of raking leaves. I convinced the kids to do another family costume, and we got to go trick or treating as Cinderella, Jaq and Gus Gus, Prince Charming, and the Fairy Godmother.
Eli and Maddie turned 6 {!} in November. We celebrated with monster trucks and princesses :) We were able to return to Cox Farms this year, which was such a fun treat. We were in full remodel mode at the new house, so we were back and forth a lot to watch the progress, do some painting...but mostly to attempt to manage ALL THE LEAVES. We wrapped up our first semester of school and started packing. We got to spend Thanksgiving with some sweet friends from church, and we were so thankful for all that the Lord has provided for us this year. We got to celebrate Mike's birthday with a yummy lunch at Uncle Julio's!
December was full of packing, finishing up some of the remodel, and finally moving! It was a busy month, for sure. I fought with insurance to get my Stelara approved again, but thankfully was able to get that done before our move. I also got labs back that showed my inflammation markers in a normal range for the first time in 3 years! We moved into the new house the week of Christmas, so we were able to spend Christmas there. We still have boxes everywhere, but we're working to get unpacked and settled as we look ahead to 2023!
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Each year when I sit down to write this post, I am always in awe of all that has happened in a year. As I look back over the previous 365 days, I am surprised to remember some things that seemed to have happened so long ago, and I smile at the memories that we are able to create throughout the year. I am in awe of how the Lord has provided for us this year; He has always been faithful to provide. But this year was more than we could have imagined. Finding a house and being able to make it our home is the last piece of the puzzle of our move to Virginia. And yet, the Lord had every detail orchestrated and waiting for us in His perfect and good timing. We have so much to be thankful for, and we are looking forward to all He has for us in 2023!
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